Bright darkness
by compass96
Summary: The manga ends with the death of Light Yagami. Done? Not quite. It seems that it would continue after all. Sometimes the dead are alive.
1. prologue

**Prologue**

The first thing he saw was darkness. It was very dark, so very dark. So dark that it was blinding. It was like a mist had covered his senses, blocked all form of escape and for a moment, a fleeting tiny moment, he felt helpless but immediately he forced it down. And then came the light.

If the darkness was blinding, the light was more so. It covered everything from edge to edge. He dared not open his eyes for fear that he would burn. And when it reduced he felt relief. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was standing in a sort of hall without a specific base shape. It was not dark, he noted, but it was not bright either. He looked at the walls and was surprised at how dark they were. He tried to repress his shudder but shuddered anyway and turned away from the walls that look as if they were entries to a black hole that continued to eat and consume forever and ever.

And then he noticed that he was standing in the only bright spot on the floor. It seemed as if there was a spotlight focusing solely on him and he did not like it. it made him feel like an animal in a zoo. An oddity to be examined and experimented upon._ Seems like it is dark after all_, he thought. And then he looked toward his front to understand why he had been brought there.

"Hello Light," a voice said full of confidence with authority and power, "Welcome, I hope you have satisfied your curiosity."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Tanaka Akira had the feeling of being jolted awake and then he opened his eyes. He looked around and noticed several people snickering at him. He had a sudden feeling of foreboding and slowly inclined his head up only to realise that a teacher was standing over looking at him with distaste.

"Mr Akira, I understand that you do not find my lesson interesting but really do you have to be so impertinent to disturb my class," the English teacher, James Ames (he knew his name now a quick glance to his nametag showed him that). There was a very obvious look of distaste and disgust in his eyes. Feeling a bit confused, he turned to look around the room and noticed the looks directed at him. Some people were pointing, others were giggling and he could have sworn he heard somebody mumble "you sure he knows what impertinent means teach." However, he was very certain that there was something that was very wrong in the situation he was in. A very innate sense of _wrongness._

"My apologies, Mr James, I did not intend to doze off at your class," Akira said. _There done with. _However, the reaction he got was absolutely different from what he expected. Silence. Complete and utter silence. He even noticed someone with his jaws open. However, more amusing than this was the reaction of the teacher. His eyes were bulging out of his sockets and he was opening and closing his mouth like a choking person gasping for air. As for Akira, he was the most shocked out of all of them. He had not expected the reactions of the people in the class and so he was as shocked as everyone or even more so. This continued for a while until the teacher cleared his throat startling everyone and breaking himself and the students out of their trance. He moved his glasses. Raised an eyebrow. Looked at Akira. And then he produced an expression that showed he was very puzzled and at the very least confused.

"Very well, I will accept your apology. Please refrain from repeating this action…" Here, James trailed off with a very large amount of surprise and puzzlement. He moved to the front of the class and the attention of the class moved with him. Despite this, Akira was very sure he heard his name in conjunction with the words 'unbelievable' and 'seven wonders'. He was very sure that someone mentioned 'going home to pray to stop the apocalypse because there is no way in hell Tanaka Akira apologised for _something _to _someone_'. And not for the last time, Akira wondered what type of person he was…..

* * *

Akira dropped his bag on the bed, _his bed_, and sat down on it. Today had been hectic. By the time his English class had been over, rumours had spread around the school ranging from 'he apologized with tears in his eyes' to 'he knelt to show his sadness and asked for forgiveness.' It had been truly aggravating and what did that guy in class mean when he said that he did not know the meaning of impertinent.

Anyway he was going off track, it seemed as if him apologizing for anything even when he was in the wrong was nothing short of miraculous. However, that could wait as it seemed to him that something was very wrong. He looked around the room. He realised straight away what was wrong. He did not feel any familiarity with the things in his room. Oh don't get me wrong he had the memories, for example he knew he'd gotten that book last year on his birthday but he considered it so boring he true it somewhere in his room.

Anyway, he knew how everything in the room came to be where it was but he did not _feel _like as if it actually happened. It felt as if he was watching a movie about what happened to someone not him. _Now why is that, _he thought still looking around. He could not finish that thought as all of a sudden he heard a chuckle, no a guffaw, behind. He turned around and what was there was so grotesque he screamed, "Aaargh."

* * *

**Hey, everyone it's compass96 here. I've been thinking about this idea for a while. i would like it if you could review while you have the time. i'm an exceptionally sloooow writer. i'm actually shocked i wrote two chapters in two days. i will try my absolute best however to update regularly. i hope you love this. no, you will love this. oh and Grisia, light does not become a shinigami. however thanks for reviewing. hope you keep on. and now i have to say goodbye**

**Ciao and au revoir to you, **


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Death note does belong to me. It belongs to ... anyway it isn't mine so... Man i'm bad at disclaimers, therefore i declare this the disclaimer for the entire story, no? Yes. Sorry for not updating for a while. and yes before you ask i wrote this story all alone. remember that when i become famous. if ever.**** Please read on and enjoy. thanks.**

"Boo", said the creature. His appearance was so frightening that Akira had to take a moment to calm down. You know when they say someone is skin and bones; he _literally_ was one. He (or it?) had bones everywhere with little bits of clothing here and there. And now the creature was laughing. A full blown, in your face, guffaw. "You should have seen your face", he said still chuckling, "Man, it's been so long since I last laughed like that."

Akira simply looked at him (I mean it since I don't really know the gender) stupidly, having recovered his nerve. "Aw man why d'you have to take away my fun so quickly", he said and then quickly under his breath, "man, I wish I had some popcorn, I've been bored for so long," he muttered. "I'm surprised though", he said out loud, "I didn't expect you to be so afraid of me. You didn't seem so scared the first time."

At hearing this, Akira snapped out of his stupor, "the first time?" he mumbled. However, the _thing _did not hear him and continued to laugh.

"If only I had a camera. Oh well things like that don't matter. "

"Excuse me please," Akira cut in," have we met somewhere?" For a moment, the creature looked at him and wondered whether to get angry or laugh. "I really _really _don't know whether you are saying that to test my reaction or whether you are just that stupid", it replied, "don't you remember me? The guy with the note. Apples. Shinigami. Is there anyone inside your brain", it said exasperatingly. As it said this, it waved a hand in front of Akira's face as he (that is Akira) entered a daze at the word 'note'. This seemed to shake him out of his daze.

"Before we start talking, could you get out of my face? You don't seem to have…aesthetic qualities." Akira replied with a grimace. The creature was even more shocking than his body. He was almost sure that whoever designed or created the _thing _must have been blind. There is no one that would create them on purpose like that. Right?

"Hyuk hyuk." His laugh was grating. In fact instead of making a person reassured, it would frighten them the more and send them running for the hills. "How touching, it seems as if we are almost back to normal", he said with a touch of cheerfulness in his tone. But like a person who is bipolar, his mood suddenly changed into a serious one. "But this simply cannot do, if you cannot remember me then what would I do? Where will all my enjoyment go to? Or do you want to repeat the original scene of our meeting? That would be boring. If I need to remind you who I am I should just kill you as that would be really boring. I hate repeating things over again. So have you really forgotten me?"

He asked this question to Akira who by now had bowed his head. Around him there was a troublesome and menacing atmosphere. If it was any ordinary human, they would have been scared as they would have felt as if their greatest nightmare was going to catch up to them. But then this creature was not normal. He wasn't even human. So unlike the reaction of any human… he smiled. It was supposed to be subtle, a tiny smile showing his pleasure at the situation. But because of his facial structure, muscles and length and shape of his mouth, it came out as a very large grin. _How utterly….fascinating, _he thought, _I was right humans are really interesting. See the aura he shows. Even in the state he is, such an aura of malice shows me that I wasn't wrong in letting him live for as I long as I did all those years ago. _

While he was thinking this, Akira had raised his head. "There is no need to say anymore, is there Ryuk." At this he smiled and though it seemed gentle at first that was but an illusion as beneath that lurked malice. Malice with a tumultuous combination of hatred and anger.

* * *

**hello it's compass96. sorry it's taken so long for me to update. i'll try harder to update earlier next time. So until then please hold on and don't abandon my story.**


	4. Chapter 3

Bright darkness

**Chapter 3**

**Just to state, I will try my best to never use Japanese honorifics. I am horrible with them. Besides, this is a work written in English. In my opinion, I cannot write this fanfic with Japanese honorifics without it sounding fake and/or stupid. For this, I apologise. However, I will try to replace them with English honorifics. Now forgive me for keeping you. You may continue on to read the fanfic. And yes, that was purposely over polite.**

"Hyuk, hyuk", Ryuk, as the creature was called, laughed. _So he seems to have retained some of his earlier traits. That anger is intriguing especially when I know that there is no way he can do anything to me. It makes me want to see him exercise his self-control and become furious at locking it away. _However, if that was what Ryuk had been waiting for he was in for a shock. Almost as soon as it came, the anger was gone. It surprised Ryuk who thought that he could discern any action that the male did. Turns out he could not after all. Because as soon as the anger came, it disappeared making it seem as if his anger was an illusion. Instead he smiled softly, almost warmly -and it was at that moment that Ryuk believed Akira insane. It was unlike what he had thought. The smile was not one to cover up anger as he had suspected it would be but rather it seemed genuine.

"Ryuk, how lovely to see you again," Akira exclaimed. His smile had slowly morphed into a grin. _He was lost but now is found. _His face was full of joy as if he had met a long lost friend. "It has been what, 70 years, a hundred. I am glad to see you."

Naturally, Ryuk was on guard. For once in his _extremely _long life, he had been terrified of a human if only for a brief moment. He, that is Akira, was not normal. One did not go through what he had and smile at someone most people would have considered an enemy. His earlier display of anger was irrelevant; in fact it had been one of the reasons to increase his trepidation. His anger had disappeared as if it had not been there at all and from what he could sense the feelings of nostalgia Akira had were real and well… would not have been seen as exaggerated if he had actually been a close friend to Akira. As it was, it was _slightly and I mean very very slightly _unnerving. _Is he brainwashed? His actions seem unlike him. If he is I would be quite troubled, it would not be as interesting as it would be if he had 'free will'. _

Ryuk need not have worried. Akira's grin changed into laughter, soft beautiful laughter. But he did not stop there, he continued, the volume increasing as he went on until his body became wracked with guffaws. "Hah hah hah, you should have seen your face," he choked out still laughing. Then he smiled again.

"Where you surprised to see me again, friend," he spat as if the word was revolting and foul to him. Ryuk let out a sigh; he was acting according to plan. An Akira that would have been glad to see would be too unusual and out of character. Instead of admitting his relief at this, he said, "you have become better at this; I remember the days where you couldn't hide your killing intent no matter what. If you wanted to kill someone, anyone who was close enough to you would know."

"Ah," Akira replied, "for that, you should thank the shinigami. Having them for company tends to correct any deficiencies you have."

"True, they tend to make people do that," Ryuk agreed and then said with a slight smile, "So you are Light, aren't you."

It was an immediate reaction that Akira gave. "Light?" he asked in a perplexed voice. The killing intent in the room had reduced and the atmosphere became normal. "Do you by any chance mean Light Yagami? If you mean him, then no I am not him."

_That's not possible, _Ryuk thought,_ if he wasn't he wouldn't have been able to see me. But if he is not Light, then I have wasted my time. There is no need to keep him alive. Afterall, he does not have a death note._

However, before Ryuk could make any actions, Akira continued: "I do, however, have his memories."

"All of them"

"Yes, every single one of them. Including your 'betrayal' of him."

At this, Ryuk opened his mouth and showed all his razor sharp teeth. It was supposed to be a smile but it was so frightening that Akira stepped back a bit. It was barely perceptible but Ryuk noticed it anyway.

"Oh well, I suppose in some ways, you are like Light. That is enough for me." After saying this, he drew out a notebook seemingly out of nowhere and gave it to Akira, "usually, we would drop it on the ground and wait for someone to pick it up. But you are a special case. Afterall, if we can't get Light we can settle for second best." After saying this, he jumped out the window and although Akira went to see if he could find him, he saw nothing.

Akira turned his attention to the book in his hands; he looked at the cover of the book which had the title **death note. **He flipped the cover and looked at the first page on which was written the sentence: the person whose name is written in this book will die.

Akira smiled as he looked at the book. "Finally I have got you back." As he spoke this, his aura changed becoming more malicious, more intense, more…stifling. It was as if he himself had changed.

* * *

"I did not know you enjoyed bullying humans," a voice clear and beautiful due to its purity rang out. Ryuk had just landed in an open yet abandoned space. It did not look as if it belonged to the realms of humans. Neither did it look as if it was in the realm of the shinigami which was a wretched, despairing place. It was truly beautiful, the space (Ryuk was in) that is. Well at least to human eyes, it seemed to have blooming trees which was strange and should be impossible as it was snowing. However, the contrast between the snow and the blooming trees made it seem glorious and too beautiful. However, to Ryuk's eyes it was horrible. The white he could see was a garish colour and he disapproved of the eternal beauty it was too unnatural. Perhaps, he disapproved because shinigami have bad fashion sense.

All these observation were done in a split second. He turned towards the voice and prostrated to the floor. "My queen," he said, "I am…. surprised at your current body."

"Oh, don't you like it," she said and giggled. The childish voice sounded _wrong _especially coming from her body. She had stepped at into the light and she gave a twirl as she did so. She was astoundingly beautiful. She had hair as dark as midnight which fell down to the small of her back. She had blue eyes and her skin was a creamy colour. On looking at her one would think, what a beautiful fragile woman. She was wearing a blue gown with white edges that reached down past her toes. In all, she seemed to be the picture perfect image one would expect of royalty. This was the person to whom Ryuk had called queen. However, despite seeing this stunning image of beauty, Ryuk could not stop a shiver of disgust and distaste and Kael (for that was her name) caught it.

"So you truly don't like it," she said seeming puzzled, "but some many men have told me that they adore my beauty and that I look as lovely as a sunrise."

"Yes, men," Ryuk said dragging out the word 'men' as if to undermine her claim. "Human men. They could as well be considered cattle. Do humans listen to what their cattle and sheep speak or do they pay attention to them?"

"Ah," she replied seeming delighted, her enchanting smile never leaving her face, "but the Shinigami King seems to like it." At this, Ryuk shut his mouth, he could not argue with that. However, he still couldn't understand how his king could like his queen's current body. It looked so fragile and so human.

Kael sat down and all signs of joking seemed to disappear. She had become serious. "So tell me," she said standing as primly and elegantly as one could manage. She snapped he fingers and they were transported into a mansion that no one, not even Ryuk could see no matter how much they searched. In fact, it could argued that that house did not truly exist and that it was a figment of their imagination but Kael had powers that none of the shinigami could understand. In the house, they appeared on two chairs. Her on a chaise longue and him on a normal seat. Between them were two cups of tea on a table. Ryuk did not dare look around the room in fear of whether his actions could be misconstrued by his queen. "Tell me," she continued, "about Light Yagami. Has he been resurrected?"

"No, unfortunately. However, his memories seem to have been transplanted into a boy named Tanaka Akira."

"Oh well," she sighed, sipping a cup of tea, "half a loaf is better than none. After all, we all understood that it would be difficult, almost impossible, to beat God." She continued drinking her tea and for a while there was silence. Then she dropped her teacup and looked directly at Ryuk.

"I want you to stay with him on the off chance that Light has indeed been resurrected and has taken over Akira's body. That is clear is it not," she smiled. Ryuk instantly grew afraid. It seemed as if Kael was disappointed with the failure of her experiment and if he did not tread carefully she would destroy him. He simply nodded his head without saying anything.

Still smiling, Kael lowered her head towards him and whispered in his ear, "I expect you to put all your attention on this. Failure would not be tolerated. Understood?" Filled with trepidation, Ryuk nodded his head too afraid to speak. At this, Kael _finally _raised her head and continued sipping her tea. Ryuk took this for the sign of dismissal that it was and prepared to leave.

"Oh and Ryuk," Kael called interrupting him, "please, do have some fun."

"Yes my Queen," he replied without turning around to look at her. After saying this, he left leaving that land of eternal beauty which hid an insidious darkness behind.

* * *

Akira woke up and felt disoriented for a few minutes. He shook his head and reached his hand to slam on the alarm ringing loudly by his bedside, stopping it. He went to the bathroom and picked up a tube of toothpaste then squeezed some onto his toothbrush. By chance, he looked down on his clothes. He had gone to bed with the clothes he had worn yesterday, thinking about the shinigami's visit and the memories of Light Yagami. He spotted the death note sticking out from the inside of his shirt. He moved to push it inside. _**You didn't even hide it properly. **_When the voice came, Akira was surprised. He knew instinctively that it was not his voice.

"Who is there," he said out loud, "show yourself." _**But I can't, **_the voice said, _**afterall, I don't really exist. I am not to exist. Anyway, forget about that. **_The voice said this, his tone giving the impression of moving his hand as if to 'wipe the slate clean'. _**Don't you want to use the death note? It has an incredible amount of power.**_

"That may be so," Akira stated, "but I have Light Yagami's memories and despite its power, he died disgracefully. A death that was pitiful and embarrassing. So whatever you are, no thanks. Besides, who or what are you? I don't remember you."

_**You mean Light does not remember me. So true after all, he did not meet me. I think though you can use the death note safely as you are not anything like Light Yagami.**_

"Are you the spirit of the death note?"

_**Spirit of the death note? God no, what do you think we are in, a manga? Please I am not something as childish as that. The death note is but a weapon. Weapons do not have souls.**_

"So then what are you," Akira said feeling more and more confused by the direction the conversation was taking.

_**Geez, you must be really stupid although don't be bothered since all normal people are stupid compared to me. Using a method of elimination whilst factoring in my abilities, I must be either a shinigami which is impossible since Ryuk came to visit you earlier and if you truly have those memories, you would know that shinigamis are extremely lazy, or…**_

Hearing this, Akira gasped and shook his head, "that can't be true, you can't be..." _**Ding ding ding, he finally gets it.**_ "It is not possible, you're dead. You just can't be Light Yagami. _**That's true I am not. **_Here, Akira got more confused and wrinkled his face to show his rising annoyance with the voice. _**I am dead. However, you do have all of my memories. And I have done many gruesome things but you wanted to differentiate yourself from me and subconsciously you created me to keep those memories away from your true self. I can even be seen as a librarian. Don't worry; you won't have them as waking nightmares as I will only give them to you when you need them. You can call me Raito.**_

"What," Akira exclaimed shocked, "you can't do that without my permission. Hey." However, the voice, no Raito, did not answer and his presence had disappeared. Akira stood still looking at the mirror in his bathroom. However, he noticed that his toothpaste was slipping off his toothbrush and decided to put it out of his mind for a while. He brushed his teeth and dressed up leaving for school.

A chuckle rang out in his room. _**Hmm, he truly is stupid. I wonder how he, no, everyone would react when they learn the truth. It would be surprising. Maybe someday, I will thank Kael for her help. **_The voice kept on chuckling and an image, though blurry and shaky appeared in the mirror. It was that of Light Yagami. _**Oh well, he took the death note, he is useful after all. **_Then the image vanished from the mirror and the room remained as quiet as it had been before.

* * *

Somewhere else, Kael smiled widely. "Finally," she said.


	5. Chapter 4

Bright darkness

**Chapter 4**

**In this fanfic, there are certain markers. Generally, thoughts are written in **_**italics.**_** However, apart from that, things that are emphasised are written in italics. They are not usually thoughts. Emphasised thoughts will be in capital italics. However, Raito's speech is always written in **_**bold italics.**_** However, Raito's thoughts would be written in bold but in normal speech. As with the case of the italics, bold letters in normal speech does not always mean Raito's thoughts but also signifies titles of books I think are important. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the next installation of Bright Darkness. Anyway, I have thinking of changing the title of this fanfic. If anyone has any ideas, can they write a review or send me a personal message. Thanks.**

_There is something wrong with Akira today. _Takahashi Rena wrote in a note book. On the front cover was the sentence '**Observations of our youthful days in the classroom'**. However, unlike what the title suggested, the book did not observe the activities of her fellow students in the classroom. Rather, it only followed one of them. Akira. Rena had been 'observing' Akira ever since she had first met him. She was in other words, a stalker. She had been interested in his magnetism, his charisma and his enigmatic character. She had wondered why despite the fact that he was intensely violent, brutish and scared everyone to death at Yuuryou high school, everyone in their heart of hearts wanted something of him. The boys wanted to be like him, to be unchallenged and to be seen as the superior and dominant male. The females adored him, each desiring his attention. Afterall, he wasn't bad looking! What lies! He was an intensely good looking guy. With that black hair and those black eyes and that chest…. Rena realised that she was deviating from her previous thoughts and wiped her drool of her face. Anyway, to her, he was the necessary specimen to understanding how to be popular for she was the most unpopular of the lot. That was all he was supposed to be to her at the beginning, a study. However, somewhere along the line, she had found herself becoming attracted to him. He was handsome, definitely gorgeous; some people had even called him beautiful but only out of his hearing where they would not be killed if he heard. He understood that he was attractive and desirable, therefore he moved with confidence in himself.

However, today, he seemed to have lost that confidence. He seemed to be unsure of himself and his walking reflected that. He had entered the class with a sheepish look and had apologised to the teacher for coming late. _Apologised. _When she had heard the rumour the day earlier that he had seemed reformed, she had dismissed it as a prank. Although why he would play such a prank was lost on her, it was better than the alternative that he had reformed. However, she had been watching him for the entire period and it seemed to be true. He was listening to the teacher, not dozing in class. In fact, he was taking notes. When the teacher asked questions, he put his hands up _and answered correctly._ He even seemed to have read in advance as he was asking questions that were obviously outside what they had just been taught. The teacher, Mr Robert, was practically crying in joy. His classes were always targeted by Akira who had always stated that he was too girly to teach Maths. But now, he seemed to have smartened up and had become an even more dedicated student than his best students, his most favourite included.

All in all, if one assumed that all his future classes were going to be the same as this one, it seemed as if Akira was on the road to becoming one of the best, if not the best, student in his year. Takahashi Rena was disgusted. _Where is the charisma, the magnetism? Where is that violent nature of his? He seems flawed and dulled. Right now, handsomeness notwithstanding (that will never change), he was pretty uninteresting and boring. There was no difference between him and the average geek (apart from his face). Ugh, that notwithstanding, I said earlier! I don't like this I don't like this I don't like this. I like the former Akira more. Give him back. This is not the Akira I am in love with. I prefer when he was more dangerous. Afterall, a little bit of danger spices up life. He has to change back. I must make him change back._

* * *

As for Akira, his mind was in too much turmoil to care that his behaviour was different from normal. _Shinigamis, death note and Light, I mean Raito. How is that even possible, subconscious or not, I should not be able to create a copy of Light that acts and sounds that much like the real thing. Even the arrogance and egoism is exactly the same. Or maybe, there are many things about life that I don't know about. After all, I never knew shinigamis existed but they do. I shouldn't push it. As far it exists, it exists. But still, this is a little surprising almost like magic. Maybe, my imaginations that I am special are true. I suppose I am truly special._

_**Not at all, you pathetic maggot.**_ However, upon saying this Raito stopped and thought, **that was unlike me. I am usually more subtle. For me to descend to the level of insulting others in order to prove my superiority is pathetic and beneath me. Perhaps, my long association with the shinigamis has also brought along some negative effects. Not to worry, from now I will be more subtle in showing my displeasure or superiority to others. **He then continued speaking to Akira._** I mean boy, guy…whatever should I call you. **_

_I thought you knew my name. _

_**I probably forgot or thought it was too unimportant to remember.**_

_How… surprising. My name is Tanaka Akira. By the way, how come you are talking to me in my mind? I remember from your, I mean Light's, memories that he had that you needed to speak out loud to talk to the shinigami. Why?_

_**On second thought, **__Raito thought,__** what is wrong with calling an idiot an idiot. If I am subtle, he might never listen to what I have to say. Being overbearing would be more beneficial. Besides, it has the added benefit of allowing me to relieve all frustrations on him. **_

However, Akira was not aware of the goings-on of Raito's mind and to him it seemed as if Raito had abandoned the conversation. _Hello Raito, _he whispered in his mind. When there was still silence, he decided to take it a step further. _HELLO RAITO, ARE YOU STILL THERE? COME ON OUT, I CAN'T HEAR YOU. _Raito cringed and shouted at Akira. _**STOP. What kind of imbecility is this? Stop that screeching noise. It is hurting my ears.**_

Akira answered, puzzled, _but you don't have ears as you don't exist so why would your ears hurt? _He was truly curious about this. Now that his whole world had been rocked, he was trying to find a way to make sense of it. Asking questions usually resulted in answers, he supposed. However, no one had ever stood up to Akira before so he did not understand that there were times were asking questions could make someone really angry at you or worse, get you killed.

_**Because buffoon, although I don't have a physical body, your subconscious gave me a personality and emotions. AND RIGHT NOW IT FEELS AS IF YOU ARE GOING TO TEAR OFF MY HEAD, SO TURN THE DAMN THING OFF. **_Surprised, Akira quickly complied with the request and switched off the background screeching noise he had made in his mind. When Raito calmed down, Akira continued, _so why can you talk to me in my mind?_

_**That, you stupid idiot is because I am not a shinigami. You made me from your mind; therefore, I am part of your mind. I can only communicate with you this way. God, you truly are an idiot. Even a six year old would have understood why.**_

_I dare to disagree. You are obviously intelligent if you are the representation of Light in mind and carrying all his intellect. But I believe it is impossible for a six year old to know why I could talk to you in my mind. It might be simple for you, oh great and intelligent (what- spirit, human. What the heck can I describe you as)…personality? But for the rest of us normal humans, it would be difficult to understand and we would require explanation._

Surprised at the boy's sudden ire, Raito kept silent properly chastised. A few moments and Akira assuming that Raito had finished with him turned towards his notes. Before he could write anything though, he heard Raito's voice again. _**Stop.**_ His voice seemed _less _as if he was lacking something from earlier. Akira realised that it was probably because where before Raito's voice had carried some sort of smugness and arrogance, he was talking to him with more respect. It was a very grudging one but respect nevertheless. _**When are you going to use the death note? **_

_I don't think I will ever use it, so never._

_**Never?! **_Raito exclaimed with a feeling of incredulousness. Akira had a feeling that at that moment if Raito had a physical body, he would have had his brows raised to show his disappointment and puzzlement with his choice.

_Well, yes. I have a magical book that can just kill anyone if I write their name and I am just going to believe that a shinigami would just give it to me when in order for a human to use a death note; they have to pick up a dropped notebook. And even if it was possible for this to happen, how do I know that it is not a case of clap your hands if you believe and for me to be considered a believer, I have to pass certain criteria. Besides, even if it all works out, the death note contains a large amount of power. Who knows what would be the consequences of using the death note. Afterall, it drove Light crazy. Anyway, with great power comes great responsibility yada yada yada. If there is one thing anyone knows about me it is that I hate responsibility. Besides, why would I want to kill someone? Isn't it better to keep them alive so you can use them over and over again in order to work out stress? Dead people are just that- dead. They are practically useless. So no, never. I will never use the death note._

Shocked at this tirade, Raito began to panic. He needed the boy to use the death note. He decided to ease the boy and reassure him that he would not change if used the death note. He might have even offered to shoulder the burden. Now he knew how the Kyuubi felt! However, before he could even begin to speak, a hand touched Akira's shoulder jolting him awake. He shook his head vigorously and looked to the side where the touch had come from. He looked at the hand on his shoulder and wondered who it was that dared to touch him in class. Perhaps, he had become too soft. He did not understand why he had acted as he had the day before and just earlier. But as that hand touched him without any fear, he felt an indescribable anger enter him. Finally, he felt as if he was himself again.

Looking up to see the face, he was ready to begin to threaten to maim and cut off bodily parts. However, the identity of this intruder on his private thoughts was enough reduce his anger. Not completely but enough that he did not threaten the person but rather asked, "What", with a voice full of malice. She was Takahashi Rena the class rep of his class. With her long black hair and glasses, she was a favourite of the boys in the school who considered her an idol. However, she had never shown interest in any boy. In fact, to the few who had dared to ask her out, she had been very cold and unemotional to them. Surprisingly, this increased her popularity even more to the extent that the school as crawling with fan clubs of her amongst both boys and girls. It seemed as if the girls saw her as some kind of role model. Anyway, he was digressing. In truth unlike the other boys in school, he had never been interested in her as he found her too boring and unlike his taste. She herself had reciprocated that uncaring attitude towards him. She never paid any attention to him and he had liked it that way. She had never batted even an eyelash when he entered the classroom dripping blood and she never even paused to show either displeasure or concern when these incidents happened which was very often. She had let him do his own thing and in return, the most peaceful place in school was his homeroom. They had never even spoken to each other once even though they had been in the same class for almost a year. And now here she was touching him, rousing him from what he had to admit had not been pleasant or a dream. The shock of the situation was definitely enough to dull his anger.

"What?" He asked again when she did not answer his earlier question. This time a curious puzzling tone was present in his speech. She continued looking at him as if she was searching for something. He was beginning to feel a bit creep out when she smiled as if she had found what she was looking for and she was pleased with her discovery.

"Nothing much," she said and he relaxed thinking he could have a true nap this time. However, she continued, "Only that you are late for your P.E lesson for almost 10 minutes."

Hearing that he jumped up, "I am late for what? How the hell is that not something? Dang it, is there something wrong with your sense of priority? You should have told me first instead of staring at me all creepy like." During this speech, he packed all his books into his back and Rena stayed beside him. He was surprised because he had expected her to leave as soon as she had given the message but decided to put it out of his mind. He was late for P.E, Mr Shina would kill him! As he was leaving, Rena put her hand on his arm to stop. Impatient, he turned to look at her wondering what her problem was. He was already preparing for death; he didn't want to go to hell too!

"Are you alright? There is no problem, right?"

"Ah geez, this is what you wanted to ask. I thought it was something more important," he said obviously frustrated and tired with her. He pulled his hand away from her and ran towards the sports hall. He just hoped that today would be a good day and Mr Shina would keep him just short of death.

Rena remained at the doorway of the classroom, staring at the way Akira had just run towards. She sighed in relief. _So you are alright, that's a relief. I hope you go back to your to your former self. After all, I have marked you as a potential boyfriend. I am glad you are returning to your former self because if not then I would have had to have what was necessary and kill you. After all, it would have hurt too much to see the person most suited to be my boyfriend acting unlike the self I adore. In that case, I am certain; you too would not want to live, right Akira._ Thinking this, she smiled gracefully while stroking her hair and looking at the spot Akira had been in before. _I really really really love you. So so much._


	6. Chapter 5

Bright darkness

**Chapter 5**

"Ah God, today isn't going well," Akira exhaled. He had just come back from his P.E lesson torture, ahem training. _Remind to never be late for Mr Shina's ever again. I now remember why he is the only teacher I respect. Speaking about remembering, I wonder what was up with that daze I was in earlier._

As he stepped towards the house, he realised that the light in the study was on. _Shit, dad's home. I can't let him see me. At least, not right now. _He looked around him, to his left andright and decided that there was no one around to notice him sneak into the house through the darkened parlour. Just to clarify, Akira's house is designed in this way: his father's study is positioned just a few metres to the back door. There are two ways to get to Akira's room from there. Either, he passes through the kitchen which is opposite the study and is nearer to his room or he crosses through the parlour and then through an unoccupied guest room which has a connecting door to his room. He had found the connecting door on a day when he had been bored and had painstakingly removed the nails that boarded the door to the wall. His father had never realised that this door existed because it was an old house and the previous owner was too old to remember all the details. Apparently, the room at the other side of the door was one where mistresses and concubines where kept in case the master of the house desired them. This room was his safety net and he had never been caught sneaking into the house once he started using it. However, there was a problem using this path, it was a longer route to his room and in addition to that, he had to pass through the parlour which is the heart of a home. He looked at his hand watch and decided that it was too late for anyone to be awake as it was 3.00 am. He had gone to meet some friends after his tor…lesson with Mr Shina. He was glad he did so; it made him feel normal again.

Making up his mind, he decided to take a chance and slowly crept across the parlour. As he reached the end of the room, he gave a sigh of relief as he thought he was out of the danger zone. However, at that minute, the light came on and he froze in his footsteps. A voice coughed.

"Akira," the voice said, "aren't you going to turn around." Fixing a beotific on his face, he turned around and inclined his head to the side.

"Father, mother. Ah look, even my darling little sister. How be you this fine morn," he said in English.

His mother smiled, then giggled lifting he hand to her lips. She put down her hand but her smile remained. "Oh, it's been a while; I've heard anyone speak like that. I am appropriately charmed," she said. At this point, Akira was beginning to feel afraid. _I know that smile. It's the devilish smile. Oh God, Allah even Buddha! Please, let me be wrong and let it be that she is making the 'merciful, I love you child' smile. _However, he did not let his panic show on his face but kept his smile. Instead, he replied, "thank you. I try."

"Thank you, he said. Oh I have such lovely children," she said still smiling. During the entire dialogue, Akira had kept his entire body relaxed but slowly was inching his way towards the door behind him. His mother kept on giggling almost coquettishly. However, all of a sudden her smile dropped and she glared at her son.

"Don't you think you need to do better than that? Or did you think that was enough to keep me from asking. Fine morn my ass, such bullshit, more like night."

"Um mother," Akira replied nervously, "you shouldn't swear you know. It's bad influence on us, right. Eheheheh." Even his laugh was timid and nervous. _Dammit, I can face shinigami but when it comes to my mother I fold up like crumple paper. Pathetic._

"I shouldn't swear eh. You stupid son, where the hell have you been? Look at the time. Hey where do you think you are going to?" At this point, he had started walking back faster almost to the level of walking briskly. _Oops, _Akira thought,_ time to run._

"Ah mother," he said. By this time he had started running to his room, "you are still doing it," he threw over his soldier. Instinctively, he ducked and a shoe came sailing over the area where his head had been. "Oi mum. Do you want to kill me? That was a high heel with an extremely pointed heel."

"Even if it had touched you, would you have died? You have an extremely hard head afterall. Isn't that why you don't listen to my teachings." To this, Akira had no response. It was true afterall. He had an extremely hard head that did not listen to corrections. But still…

"Besides, now that I think of it, wouldn't be beneficial if you died. That way, I'll have only two children to care for."

"Ah that's unfair," Akira replied, "you know I'm very lovable." He was smiling. It was a surprising action that suggested that this conversation had been repeated many times albeit in different circumstances. There was even an undercurrent of teasing in the conversation and this is why Akira took her comments as a good thing. _She is beginning to mellow down. That means that when I come out of my room tomorrow, she won't be angry._

"Bullcrap," his mother, Anise responded. Akira's reply was not heard as he entered into the guestroom, locked the door and then into his own room through the connecting door.

A few minute later, a click was heard and Akira's room door opened. He came out looking sufficiently cowed and smiling sheepishly, rubbed his head. Behind him came his father, he had taking the more direct route to Akira's room through the kitchen and had waited for him in his room.

Akira was past being afraid and had already gone into the territory of being terrified. While it was his mother that was the outgoing personality of his parents' marriage and was bossy, his father was more self-controlled and quiet. However, when he got angry, one would catch a glimpse of his true personality that all his colleagues usually saw. He was truly frightening and inventive. And right now, he was truly angry. It was probably because he was tired from his trip and had come home to meet his wife complaining over their son's behaviour. _Why did my normal behaviour come back? Couldn't it have stayed away for a bit longer? Shoot. I am in such giant trouble. _

His sister of 14 years noticed his discomfiture and smiled at him then whispered, "Stupid brother. Anyone would have known that you were heading to your room and as a result, it was easy to catch you since we figured out where you were going. You are truly stupid." Akira wondered to insult her back but settled on giving her the finger when's his parents were not looking at him. However, his father noticed and immediately hit him on the head with the side of the hand. _Ah geez, I am going to stop paying tithe. God, you didn't help me at all. But first, I'll make sure that I kill my little sister. Dang it, father's hand is really hard and painful._

* * *

Somewhere at no place in nowhere, a loud number of guffaws could be heard.

"Ryuk was right, humans and their interactions with each other are really interesting," a voice said. The voice was feminine or as feminine as a shinigami's voice can be. Her body, however, did not look female. Also, there was no remarkable difference between her and the other three males that were with her, apart from the fact that she wore more strips of clothing than they did.

"Indeed, Sheillah. However, we are not getting the entertainment Ryuk promised us," another voice said. Amongst all the other occupants of the 'place' (room would have sounded too human); he bore the closest resemblance to Sheillah. It could be assumed that they were siblings, "he told us that despite the entertainment he provided us in this region, it would be more interesting to watch him interact with his fellow humans. Very amusing, he called it."

"Yes, Amak, but…,"Sheillah said trying to stop her brother from the route his mind was going towards.

"It was for this reason that we allowed his soul to go back to earth. And yet, it has been two days since he has arrived on earth and he hasn't done a thing. _Not a thing._"

"True, then what do you suggest we do. Wrestle control of the experiment from Kael. That would be stupid. Besides, don't you think that if that happens, someone up there- maybe the creator- would notice what we have done? **He **has ignored us so far but if he realises that we have released a human from death, can you think of **His **anger."

"Don't be silly Sheillah. If he is as all-knowing as you loyalists insist, then he already knows and he hasn't said anything. Isn't that a sign that we can go ahead."

"Elyon gives us free will…"

"How many times will I tell you this, God does not exist," Amak interrupted. During the conversations of the siblings, the other two males looked at them amusedly. Shinigami like Sheillah and Amak were rare in that they had lively personalities despite the dullness and darkness of the Shinigami Realm. Their arguments were a way to keep lively in their environment and therefore no one interrupted them when they started one. In fact, the two men ignore them and continued to play their betting game. Sheillah looked stunned at Amak's outburst and Amak breathed in to calm himself down. He continued speaking softly, "stop acting like a foolish human. We are not in need of a god to save us." Sheillah opened her mouth to speak but closed it when she saw the look on Amak's face.

"Besides, if he exists and is not responding at the moment, doesn't that mean that he does not object?" He smiled softly at that moment and then touched his sister's face. "Don't we have the right to free will too?"

"You are right," she said slowly nodding while she tried to smile softly as her brother did. However, unlike her brother who had at a face resembling a human's but with a lower body resembling a ram's, she had a very wide face with one eye on her forehead and a very bony body. They were not beautiful-not at all. So she tried to smile, a little smile of understanding so that her brother would not notice but her face would not allow this and her smile resembled the smile a pervert would get when he has peeped- or imagined peeping- into a bathroom of naked women (_and yes, I see you Jiraiya_).

"Besides," Amak said with a dismissive gesture, "if anything goes wrong we can use Kael as a scapegoat." One of the other men in the room having decided to interrupt the siblings conversation, said, "The boy is not acting according to plan. Sure his relationship with his parents is humorous at best but he is not behaving as the original did."

The other man in the room chimed in, "yeah let's kill the boy and try again. We had a lot of fun when he was here."

"Not possible," Sheillah said.

"Why?" Amak questioned.

"Brother, I am not stupid. I tried it as soon as I found the act dull. It did not work. His soul is entwined with that boy. I cannot pull out his soul without pulling out the boy's. And that is simple not possible."

"Why?"

"I do not know," Sheillah exploded, "I don't understand everything. If you truly want to know, I suppose you can ask Kael in her space." At this, the other members in the room shivered. One did not disturb the Shinigami Queen if they wanted to keep their lives. They were only a few that were awarded that privilege and they were not part of them.

"However," she continued, "on the other hand, we can give him the time we had originally planned to give him and then try again. I suppose by that time. The two souls would have stabilised that they would be one soul." At this, the others nodded agreeing with her. Her brother, too, followed suit, however, he stopped in the process of nodding and looked at her suspiciously.

"Wait. One soul? I thought you didn't know."

"Oh, that was for calling me foolish. I thought a good scare would suffice."

"A good scare," he repeated menacingly and narrowed his eyes, an obvious human reaction. After a few seconds, he shook his head exasperatingly; another obviously human reaction, and sighed.

"Go on. Just tell us. Why do we have to wait until they have stabilised if we want to take their souls."

"I have a theory," Sheillah said and rubbed her hands together gleefully, "the main means by which a shinigami takes a human's life is by the death note. However, a rule of the death note is that you cannot influence a person to kill another person by death note."

"So, we already know this," Amak said impatiently. At seeing this, Sheillah smiled victoriously.

"It means that no two deaths in the death note should be related to each other. You can't make one person kill another and die. Killing on would be killing another and according to the death note, a person's death caused by the death note should not directly cause another person's death directly. Now in the case of Light Yagami and Tanaka Akira, there are two souls not one. It is impossible for the death note to take their lives as one's death would directly cause the death of the other."

"What!" Amak exclaimed, clearly shocked, "are you trying to say that they cannot die. They are immortal when their souls are two distinct ones in one body?"

"Not true. They can die as the people whose life force we do not consume die. We just cannot kill them. Well, at least for five years or so. So I advise that we simply watch now for at least, the next five years. I think they will be _spectacular_," She said with relish.

* * *

After suffering from the punishment of his parents, Akira retired to the comfort of his room. "Dammit, why the heck does he have to come back now? I thought he was on a manhunt of a dangerous criminal. If he wasn't here, I wouldn't suffer like this."

_**Isn't this your fault? If you hadn't come home late then you would not have been punished.**_

_It is not my fault. It is the fault of that devilish teacher. No, it is the fault of that obnoxious girl. Why of all days did she have to talk to me today? So annoying._

_**Hmm. Want to kill her?**_ Akira seemed shocked by the question and kept silent, stunned. Raito ignored his silence and continued, _**you can use the death not, you know. No one would suspect you of her death and you could make it a natural one. It can even be peaceful if you like. I can see the phrase already, 'Takahashi Rena sleeps and never wakes up'. It would be clean and simple. Hey and on the bright side- no more punishment or suffering.**_

"No," Akira shouted, horrified. He was repulsed by the ease at which Raito discussed killing a person and he told him so.

_**That should be expected. I in some way contain some part of the original's personality. He found killing as easy as drinking water. But I still think you should kill. I feel that she will be interference in the future.**_

_I am not doing it. I am not killing. I thought I told you earlier, I will never use the death note. And thinking about it, aren't you the reason I did not know that the lesson was over. If not for you, I would have not been late for P.E and made to do the punishment course. It's all your fault._

_**It's no…ok maybe it is. But seriously what will make you use the death note. There are many horrible things in this world and **_**somehow **_**they need to be cleaned up. Why can't you do so?**_

During the course of their discussion, Akira had pulled off his clothes and changed. Now he climbed in to his bed and threw his covers over himself. For a few moments he did not answer and Raito had begun to think that he had simple gone to sleep when he replied slumberly while yawning, _I don't think I ever will. Or maybe I would if something happens to your family._

_**Something. Like what? **_However, Akira could not answer as he had gone to bed. _**Something, eh something**_,Raito deliberated and a giggle came out from somewhere. A giggle that sounded so cruel and insane that whoever heard it would want to run away really quickly. It was a lovely moonlight sky outside but very soon one would not be able to ensure such pleasure. It was a really lovely night.


End file.
